Nasscom Foundation, Mphasis invite applications to support and mentor India’s best social innovations

With support from Mphasis, Nasscom Social Innovation Forum will award grants of Rs 10 lakh each to tech innovations that are creating radical social impact in areas of financial inclusion, healthcare, environment, education and accessibility.

Nasscom Foundation, in partnership with Mphasis, launched the 11th edition of the Nasscom Social Innovation Forum (NSIF) to foster innovative use of technology and create sustained social impact.

Srikanth Karra, Chief Human Resources Officer, Mphasis, said:

“There are various pathfinders seeking creative ways to address key developmental issues, and it is our focus to encourage their efforts and offer support. Through our association with Nasscom Foundation, we hope to create social impact at scale and encourage innovations that contribute towards the progress of our society in the long run.”

Started in 2008, the programme identifies, honours and supports, innovative technology projects, products and solutions that have the potential to address critical gaps in key developmental areas and contribute to inclusive growth. The programme has worked with over 1,000 innovative projects from NGOs, companies, social enterprises, government bodies, PSUs, students and individuals.

Applications for the 2019 cohort will be accepted until June 15, and a grant of Rs 10 lakh will be given out to each of the winning solutions across five thematic areas— financial inclusion, healthcare, environment, education, and accessibility.

Ashok Pamidi, CEO, Nasscom Foundation said,

“We are living in exciting times where innovative technology solutions can help change the social fabric and solve some of the most pressing problems for India. With Nasscom Social Innovation Forum, we hope to support the best possible tech-based innovations that can make the lives of people easier."

The Nasscom Foundation has so far attracted over 1,000 innovative projects, which include providing access to clean drinking water, empowering the girl child by providing them access to financial services, and bridging the market gaps for farmers.

A ‘Tech for Good’ platform, NSIF aims to drive technology-led innovation for all by developing solutions to address gaps in key developmental areas and foster inclusive growth. Over the last decade, the NSIF has worked with a diverse range of social innovators across NGOs, social enterprises and start-ups.

Ashok says,

"We may soon be able to replace Braille dots with electrostatic charges allowing the visually impaired to use touch screen smartphones; artificial Intelligence may soon govern our healthcare systems; IoT may soon be able to help bring efficiencies in our efforts towards environment conservation, and machine learning may help provide better education.”

Winners of the programme this year will be felicitated at the Nasscom Product Conclave in November 2019. Each winner will be provided with 12-month ‘Support-to-Scale’ mentoring by subject matter experts in the industry and access to Nasscom Foundation’s 2,000 innovator network of tech for good leaders.